"During hours of peak demand, some constituents attempting to use the system may receive a message asking them to try back at a later time, when demand is not so extreme," the CAO wrote. "This measure has become temporarily necessary to ensure that Congressional websites are not completely disabled by the millions of emails flowing into the system. Engineers are working diligently to accommodate this enormous traffic flow and we appreciate your patience in this matter."

A spokesman for the CAO told CNN.com that House website admins thought there would be a drop in the site's traffic after the initial backlash — particularly because Tuesday is the Rosh Hashanah holiday.

Those in the US hoping to contact their House rep during peak times are greeting with the following error: "The House of Representatives is currently experiencing an extraordinarily high amount of email traffic. The Write Your Representative function is therefore intermittently available. While we realize communicating to your Members of Congress is critical, we suggest attempting to do so at a later time, when demand is not so high. System engineers are working to resolve this issue and we appreciate your patience." ®